Why you MUST visit the Banaue Rice Terraces

Hey readers!

Before I talk about the Banaue Rice Terraces, I would like to address that I am currently on "travel break" as I have recently begun my university studies. However, as the end of the exams period is fast approaching, I will be posting much more of my travels and will attempt at maintaining an active blog.

Without further ado, here is why you MUST visit the Banaue Rice Terraces in the Philippines: 

Up in northern Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, in the Ifugao region, exists what some people consider to be the "Eighth Wonder of the World"- the Banaue Rice Terraces. These terraces were carved into the mountains of Ifugao by ancestors of the indigenous people (the collective name of groups who inhabit the mountainous part of the Philippines), and the common conception is that they were built mainly by hand, making it more unique than the other rice terraces in the world! To this day, locals continue to plant rice and vegetables on these terraces, although younger Ifugaos do not find farming interesting. The result of the gradual decrease in farming could lead to the potential disappearance of this marvelous creation, something I guarantee we do not want to see occur. 

Initially, Yoel and I were terrified of the fact we may be experiencing heavy rain during our trip to the rice terraces. We arrived at Randy's Brookside Inn, where we were greeted by Randy's wife (as he was away for work), who reassured us that the weather should be on our side for the duration of our stay. We sat down with Randy's wife, who's name I do not recall, and we discussed our plans for the Banaue Rice Terraces hike- we were informed there were several routes, and we decided on the two day hike.

The following morning, we packed all our necessities into our backpacks (we were going to stay overnight in one of the neighboring villages), we put our big bags aside to be safeguarded for us at Randy's, ate breakfast and met up with our guide, Vincent. We were amazed to discover that he is 67 years old and is still capable of doing these hikes at least twice a week. Just to put it into perspective, one daily hike consisted of 14 km of walking in the tropical forest at the highest humidity when the weather's boiling hot. 

We were happy to realize that Vincent was super intelligent, explaining all the things we encountered along the way (statues of the "rice god", the different plants and animals). We started getting personal, and we even discovered he gave up love in order to pursue his passion for guiding! Throughout the day, the weather was perfectly fine, until it started to rain by the time we almost reached our destination for the night. Coincidentally, that led to our first encounter with the locals, who wanted to play with us. They were so shocked at the sight of my phone, as they are quite isolated from modern civilization, and were amazed to see themselves through the selfie mode! 

After the rain stopped, we continued towards Banaue's neighboring village, where we parked for an early night. The next morning we woke up extremely early in order to continue our journey and arrive at the rice terraces before the "traffic". At around noon, panting and out of breath, we finally arrived at the rice terraces! We had to sit down and enjoy the beautiful view right in front of us-

terraces in different greens looking like a staircase, with the Batad village in the center and a backdrop of the mountains. It was completely breathtaking. After about an hour of taking pictures and relaxing, we decided to hike to the Tappiya waterfalls, a 50-meter high waterfall right next to the rice terraces. After a tough way down (during which our 67 year old guide casually climbed a tall mango tree for us), we made it to the falls. At that point, there was only one thing left to do- soak in the water under the boiling sun and enjoy the moment.

Once we were done having lunch, filming and just savoring our time there, we headed back up towards a road (finally our first encounter with civilization in two days), found a tricycle and headed back to Randy's Inn. We said our goodbyes to Vincent and ensured him that we shall meet again.

All in all, the trip to the rice terraces was an unforgettable experience. With Randy's remote assistance, checking up on us every now and then, and Vincent's incredible guidance, the adventure could not have been any better.

For anyone planning on travelling the Philippines, I would highly recommend seeing the beautiful rice terraces (they are brown during the dry season and green during the wet season), because it will definitely add to the collection of memories you will acquire in the Philippines.

Until then, safe travels!